University of Twente Student Theses
Assessing the Potential of Amyloid-Like Protein Fibrils in a Nanoplastic Filtration Model System
Sinecek, E.Y. (2025) Assessing the Potential of Amyloid-Like Protein Fibrils in a Nanoplastic Filtration Model System.
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| Abstract: | This thesis explores the use of amyloid-like protein fibrils as filtration materials for capturing nanoplastics. Fibril-modified membranes were prepared using five different proteins, with seven fibril aggregation methods tested to optimize their performance. Due to inconsistencies or poor performance, only α-synuclein and lysozyme fibrils were selected for final experiments to evaluate their retention efficiency for varying concentrations of fluorescent nanobeads. The results show that α-synuclein achieved significantly higher retention efficiency, reaching up to 94%, compared to lysozyme, which reached only 22%. The observed retention trends deviated from those reported in the existing literature. However, these discrepancies may be justified by considering the differences in fibril network density, structural integrity, and interaction strength, all of which may influence retention efficiency. During experimentation, issues related to membrane integrity and fibril deposition arose. Imaging showed a buildup of fibrils at membrane edges and tearing under high pressure, which would later be remedied with a support layer. Furthermore, the number of data points should be increased to more accurately determine trends, and the limitation of the deposition method should be addressed to improve reliability. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | TNW: Science and Technology |
| Programme: | Biomedical Technology BSc (56226) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/106102 |
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